The conundrum of Christmas: Why did God allow Jesus to be born into an impoverished family, with Joseph an itinerant carpenter with little money?
… Christ’s mission was to demonstrate the essence of humility
One of the baffling things for me as a child was learning that Jesus Christ was born into an impoverished family when God could have placed him into a wealthy one — or at least one with middle class wealth.
I have never resolved this until my later years of life, and that has occurred only because I have focused on reading the New Testament and focusing so much on the Book of Matthew — as well as the other synoptics.
That brings us to the birth of Jesus, to be celebrated this week. The problem with it is that was have been taught a Hollywood version of the narrative. Some Christians will cringe at that analysis since they believe that Hollywood is the essence of sin and debauchery.
Many contemporary Christians have proved that narrative to be wrong with their sleazy lifestyles and wealth — and my goal here is to understand the narrative that is more New Testament than Hollywood.
The “romanticized” version of Christ’s birth
An essay by a Dominican brother who graduated from Notre Dame explained this very well,
We tend to romanticize Christ’s birth. The sweetness of our carols, crèches, and Christmas cookies often leads us to think that the first Christmas was equally sweet.
We forget Joseph toiled to find a place for Mary to give birth. We don’t remember how Our Lady suffered the wintry cold. We feel comfortable when we recall the cave where Christ was born. But it doesn’t cross our mind that the straw the Infant slept on “probably stank as old straw stinks in stables” (Catherine Doherty). We forget, in a word, that Jesus Christ was born into poverty.
Our Lord Jesus is the Son of God. As God, he is eternally rich, enjoying a fullness beyond all telling. He suffers no need whatsoever. But the Son of God became a man. He became a needy baby, a poor man. “Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). Christ took on earthly poverty for our heavenly enrichment. But what sort of poverty was it?
Certainly, Christ was “poor in spirit,” the source and model of all the counter-intuitive spiritual attitudes set out in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7). But Jesus was also materially poor. He freely chose to go without needful things. The poor circumstances of his early life reveal this. His parents found no room in the inn. He slept in an animals’ feeding trough. Soon thereafter he was persecuted and forced into exile. His family lived modestly and worked hard for it. When his time came, he became a wandering preacher with nowhere to lay his head. Finally, he died a criminal’s death, alone and naked on the Cross.
Brother Josemaria Guzman Dominguez, O.P., “Born into poverty,” Dominicana, December 24, 2019
Jesus’ parable about wealth
So many conservative Christians ignore much of the New Testament and instead focus on the fire and brimstone of the Old. In doing so, they ignore some of the fundamental teachings of Jesus.
This parable explains the problems that he has with wealth, something that he had nothing of in his life, from his birth in a manger because Joseph could not afford a room in the inn to his death on the cross and burial in a borrowed tomb,
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[c] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
Matthew: Chapter 19
The part of that which disturbs so many Christians, particularly the “prosperity gospel” cult is this,
it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
That makes clear that God’s placing Jesus in relative poverty for his life was a well thought-out premise.
Even in Jesus’ ministry, he had no wealth. He had to borrow everything from money to boats to clothes.
So, why was he poor?
One sermon outlined why Jesus was born in poverty and why that was important,
Jesus knew what it was like to grow up poor. He actually lived that out, day after day, year after year.
Why is this important? Well, look at Luke 4. Jesus is at Nazareth and giving what could be described as His mission statement. It’s too easy to read His words without thinking about what exactly He’s saying. It’s not just a bunch of pretty, noble-sounding words. It’s an accurate description of what Jesus intends to do.
For us, the key phrase is early: “to preach good news to the poor” (v. 18).
Jesus’ ministry included preaching good news to the poor. He knew their struggles. He knew their problems. He knew their frustrations. He knew their hopes. He knew their fears. Why? Because He’d lived the life of a poor man.
This was an advantage as He shared the gospel. He connected to them in a way that He otherwise could not have.
Jim Butcher, “Why was Jesus born into a family that was poor?” February 5, 2018
Jesus understood what his father wanted him to do on earth,
Jesus chose to suffer what so many poor men and women endure unjustly and without choice. He did so to reveal God’s special love and nearness to the poorest of the poor. Christ’s very life shows him to be the Lord’s anointed sent to preach the Good News to the poor (Lk 4:18). He invites them to unite their poverty with his own. He gives them hope and patience, humility and love to carry otherwise unbearable burdens. That was the gift the poor God-child offered to the poor shepherds who visited him in Bethlehem. That same gift is on offer to all the poor through history, to those who are poor tonight.
So on this blessed Christmas Eve let’s sing carols, behold our crèches, and eat Christmas cookies with joy in our hearts. These remind us of God’s sweet love made manifest tonight. But let us not forget Christ’s poverty, and his (our) poor brothers and sisters he came to fill.
Brother Josemaria Guzman Dominguez, O.P., Dominicana, December 24, 2019
Gospels focus on poverty — in million dollar cathedrals and megachurches
Jesus did not attempt to lure the wealthy into his ministry, something contemporary Christians ignore,
In reading the Gospels, we can focus on Jesus’ poverty. There is a sense in which Christ’s incarnation itself was an impoverishing act. Indeed, in order to take on human flesh and dwell among sinful people and the filth of this world, Jesus had to set aside the wealth of heaven …
We can also see the level of poverty that Jesus experienced by looking at the material state of his family. Most people are familiar with the details of Christ’s birth since they are recounted and celebrated every Christmas. Jesus’ nativity story includes being born in a foreign city (presumably without family and friends), being placed in a manger (literally a feed trough) and being visited by shepherds— strangers who were considered by most people to be the outcasts of society (see Luke 2:7) …
Thus Jesus was born into a family that was part of the lower economic class. We see this material status has not changed 30 years later, during Jesus’ earthly ministry. In a recent post, we cited a number of Jesus’ well-known teachings about wealth and poverty at this time. We should note, too, Jesus’ comments on his own economic status, such as when he said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). The Gospel narratives bear out this testimony.
“Was Jesus rich or poor — and why does it matter?” Intersect Project, July 7, 2016
So, when we celebrate in multi-million dollar churches and cathedrals, I wonder what Jesus would have thought about how religion has distorted his teachings. And I am talking about the Vatican and megachurches, across the religious domains.
Jesus’ focus was on humility, which wealth eliminates
One contemporary Christian asks a very astute question: Why did Jesus despise the scribes and pharisees?
The reality is that they were the epitome of wealth and hypocrisy,
Why does Jesus use such scalding words towards the scribes and Pharisees? His words are so caustic that I feel the sting of them 2000 years later – and they weren’t even aimed towards me!
I think it’s because Jesus’ kingdom is a kingdom of love and humility (which are so closely related it’s difficult if not impossible to separate them). But the scribes and Pharisees, as leaders who lead with pride and not humility, are opposed to His kingdom.
I think this may also be the reason Jesus is so harsh towards hypocrites. All men are hypocrites in that we don’t live up to what we say is right and good. So why such harshness towards hypocrites? It’s not all hypocrites that Jesus thrashes but the religious leaders who are hypocrites, those who should be leaders and teachers in love and humility but instead teach pride by their actions.
Charles Erlandson, “Matthew 23: 1-12 — Humility,” Give Day Daily Devotionals, November 9, 2016
So, Jesus was outraged by the arrogance and hypocrisy of religious leaders? I agree with that.
The scribes and Pharisees are alive and well in America in the 21st Century
Can you imagine how Jesus would feel about religious leaders in America today? They are the epitome of hypocrisy, preaching one thing and acting in an entirely un-Christian-like way.
What we have to learn from all of this is humility. Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees that they were destined to hell because of their pride and arrogance and hypocrisy,
11 The greatest among you must be your servant.
12 Anyone who raises himself up will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be raised up.
13 'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut up the kingdom of Heaven in people's faces, neither going in yourselves nor allowing others to go who want to.
14
15 'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and anyone who becomes one you make twice as fit for hell as you are.
Matthew Chapter 23
So, the reason for poverty was to demonstrate that the most important character trait for Christians is humility.
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